Meryl Streep blasts Weinstein’s counsel for using her words

NEWS DESK: Hollywood actor Meryl Streep clearly does not appreciate being part of Harvey Weinstein’s legal defense. On Wednesday evening, she released a statement, via her representative Hannah Donohue, saying that Weinstein’s inclusion of her words in a legal filing was “pathetic and exploitative”, reported USA Today.

Lawyers for the disgraced Hollywood producer said Tuesday in a federal court in New York that the proposed class-action lawsuit filed by six women should be rejected. They said that the alleged assaults took place too long ago and that the proposed class of affected women was “fatally overbroad”. The defense also cited comments made by Streep — that Weinstein was not abusive toward her during their business relationship — in support of Weinstein.

Though Streep says it’s true that Weinstein wasn’t sexually transgressive or physically abusive toward her, using her words “as evidence that he was not abusive with many OTHER women is pathetic and exploitative,” said her statement. “The criminal actions he is accused of conducting on the bodies of these women are his responsibility, and if there is any justice left in the system he will pay for them- regardless of how many good movies, made by many good people, Harvey was lucky enough to have acquired or financed.”

Weinstein’s filing also included mentions of Jennifer Lawrence and Gwyneth Paltrow, who have said they felt “petrified” and “sick” about Weinstein, respectively, since allegations about him surfaced.

According to ABC News, Lawrence told Oprah Winfrey that she had known Weinstein since she was 20 and said “he had only ever been nice to me,” according to the filing written by attorneys Phyllis Kupferstein and Mary Flynn.